ARCHIVE - Tim's blog http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/blog/11/atom/feed 2007-10-05T14:50:25-07:00 ARCHIVE - Winter project proposal http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/winter-project-proposal-3 2007-12-07T17:55:25-08:00 2007-12-07T17:55:25-08:00 Tim ARCHIVE - Exam questions http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/exam-questions 2007-12-07T17:53:14-08:00 2007-12-07T17:53:14-08:00 Tim Concept Rhyming Paper #3
Essay Questions


THE SELF


Question:
Through the destruction of the heart machine in the film Metropoilis, both upper and lower levels were deemed useless due to the loss of power. How could equality between the two classes of Metropolis be gained through the destruction of the heart machine?

My Answer:

Through the loss of the machine, the city was deemed useless. The lower levels were flooded deeming them useless as well. Yet at the end of the film, the head, heart, and body were united creating a triad. Through this triad, it would appear that equality was gained To create equality would be for both the lower and upper class to act like the machine they destroyed. For the machine they would have to create a democracy, a new form of government and organization. A new machine to power the city would have to be built, yet through this process might occur difficulties in equality, so it would have to be a cooperative movement, like a well oiled machine.


THE SUBJECT

Question:
How is identity evolving through gender and sexuality? How would Butler define identity? What is gender’s role in identity?

My Answer:
It seems that Butler isn’t interested in defining identity. It’s a constantly moving perception both within others and us. She’s interested in how gender plays into identity. Like identity, gender sometimes isn’t a set thing. Like identity, gender is moving. Shaping identity in numerous ways.

THE CITIZEN

Question:
How is gender an ideology? Is it? How Teresa de Lauretis talk about ideology in context with gender?

My Answer:
- Ideology: “visionary theorizing, a system of concepts about human life or culture,” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary).
- “Replacing ideology with gender in Athusser’s quote: “All ideaology has the function (which defines it) of ‘constituting’ concrete individuals as subjects,’ (Althusser, 171),” (de Lauretis, 7). Gives us a a parallel between gender and ideology. ]]>
Concept Rhyming Paper #3
Essay Questions


THE SELF


Question:
Through the destruction of the heart machine in the film Metropoilis, both upper and lower levels were deemed useless due to the loss of power. How could equality between the two classes of Metropolis be gained through the destruction of the heart machine?

My Answer:

Through the loss of the machine, the city was deemed useless. The lower levels were flooded deeming them useless as well. Yet at the end of the film, the head, heart, and body were united creating a triad. Through this triad, it would appear that equality was gained To create equality would be for both the lower and upper class to act like the machine they destroyed. For the machine they would have to create a democracy, a new form of government and organization. A new machine to power the city would have to be built, yet through this process might occur difficulties in equality, so it would have to be a cooperative movement, like a well oiled machine.


THE SUBJECT

Question:
How is identity evolving through gender and sexuality? How would Butler define identity? What is gender’s role in identity?

My Answer:
It seems that Butler isn’t interested in defining identity. It’s a constantly moving perception both within others and us. She’s interested in how gender plays into identity. Like identity, gender sometimes isn’t a set thing. Like identity, gender is moving. Shaping identity in numerous ways.

THE CITIZEN

Question:
How is gender an ideology? Is it? How Teresa de Lauretis talk about ideology in context with gender?

My Answer:
- Ideology: “visionary theorizing, a system of concepts about human life or culture,” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary).
- “Replacing ideology with gender in Athusser’s quote: “All ideaology has the function (which defines it) of ‘constituting’ concrete individuals as subjects,’ (Althusser, 171),” (de Lauretis, 7). Gives us a a parallel between gender and ideology.
    Gender is oppressed by ideology.
    They can be examples of one another, yet oppressed by eachother.








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ARCHIVE - How I fell in love with my prosthesis + whoopie cushion writing http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/how-i-fell-in-love-with-my-prosthesis-whoopie-cushion-writing 2007-12-07T17:38:23-08:00 2007-12-07T17:38:23-08:00 Tim I first fell in love the camera during high school. Wait, scratch that. I first fell in love with making images in middle school taking digital photographs and then altering them digitally. Years later in highschool, I found the black and white dark room and I was sold. Taking photographs since then has almost replaced writing for me. While before I used to write about everything, now I photograph it. Through this new mode of expression and creation, I used the camera to photograph people and to learn about them. Through the use of my camera I have a discussion with light, shadow, focus, and perception. This is my mode of communication. This is my prosthesis. 

 

Whoopie cushion

 

The whoopie cushion is here for my amusement. It makes me smile when I'm stressed. Like the camera it creates room for discussion. By blowing it up, and placing it on an unknowing subjects chair, it creates mode of humor. It's lung like shape allows air in silent and out rudely.  It's a simple and cheap way to make a room laugh or become uncomfortable. 

 

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I first fell in love the camera during high school. Wait, scratch that. I first fell in love with making images in middle school taking digital photographs and then altering them digitally. Years later in highschool, I found the black and white dark room and I was sold. Taking photographs since then has almost replaced writing for me. While before I used to write about everything, now I photograph it. Through this new mode of expression and creation, I used the camera to photograph people and to learn about them. Through the use of my camera I have a discussion with light, shadow, focus, and perception. This is my mode of communication. This is my prosthesis. 

 

Whoopie cushion

 

The whoopie cushion is here for my amusement. It makes me smile when I'm stressed. Like the camera it creates room for discussion. By blowing it up, and placing it on an unknowing subjects chair, it creates mode of humor. It's lung like shape allows air in silent and out rudely.  It's a simple and cheap way to make a room laugh or become uncomfortable. 

 

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ARCHIVE - Beauty Parlor Presentation write up - The Farmer's Market! http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/beauty-parlor-presentation-write-up-the-farmers-market 2007-10-28T22:51:16-07:00 2007-10-28T22:51:16-07:00 Tim The Farmer's Market

Presented by Timothy, Melissa, and iea 

 

Audio
Audio+pictures
Naming rounds

Sensory Overload. Entering into the structure, one is accosted by sounds, sights and smells. One finds tightly compact spaces layered with items displayed. The structure itself provides various scenarios for the body to interact in, while the structure as Farmer’s Market places the body into three distinct categories: Vendor, Consumer Musician, as documented by a pseudo-fourth category: the observers (in other words, us).

Observing provided quite a bit of questions, some of which are on the handout. We’d like to focus on the inquiry of “How does the time mechanism set a pace/direct the flow and interaction of bodies? How does time affect power between the bodies and within the structure?”

Vendors can only sell within the set hours of ten and three and the space marked for appropriate action as a vendor is designated by a bell: one ring in the morning to signify the beginning of the day and one in the afternoon to indicate the close of the day.  If anyone wishes to deviate from the bell, they must approach the staff in the office and request special permission.  

Before the bell, bodies interact in a fast pace manner using machinery, while as time approaches the bell, the bodies settle in for a more repetitive role.  Between the bell, the interaction of bodies exercise in parabolic energy. Beginning with the arrival of the vendors the energy begins to build and then subside in anticipation of the bell. Once the bell sounds, energy rises with the arrival of the consumer. As the consumer population increases so does the tension between the three classifications of bodies. The musicians add to the pace of time by designating the peek hours with their function as entertainment. The energy reaches its peak and then disintegrates on the approach of the bell. The musicians leave, the consumers begin to dwindle, and the bell rings, releasing tension. The interaction then turns to bodies and machines once again. Thus,, time is a technique, which provides the space for these functions to exist.

We analyzed the dynamics of the exchange in the farmer’s market through both a triad and a binary conception and the context in which time interacts in these theories.

As a triad, we have, as already discussed, the consumer, the vendor and the musician. The vendor causes the space to function as the farmer’s market; the musician provides the presence of the farmer’s market and lastly, the consumer uses the space. All three categories support each other and provide an interchanging flow of power.

Similarly, in a binary manner, as Foucault tends to explore, we found dichotomous tension. For example, in the physical structure versus bodily structure, it is difficult to segment the two for they relate to each other, as the setup of the place and the interaction contained within the place. In the interior and exterior shows how the exterior of the building sets boundaries for the place, while the interior explodes nearly limitlessly (various sights, smells and sounds). If we reterm objectivity and subjectivity, objectivity implies following the rules within the structure, while subjectivity exerts as a manner in which to bend the rules while still existing within the structure.  In subjectivity, then, we enter into another dichotomy of high stakes/low stakes.  We, as observers, toyed with the idea of high stakes/low stakes, which the tension between the two is made possible in part by Judith Butler’s term of performativity, where a power structure only exerts its power by a constant reiteration of its function and it is in this repetitive notion that the power structure becomes vulnerable.  If the farmer’s market is constantly a place where bodies go to exchange, then Tim, Melissa and I, as observers, broke this primary rule of exchange in a low stakes manner.  The constant rule of the farmer’s market provided us with the space for observation in more of a low stakes manner because we were able to blend with the other bodies, while remaining apart from the bodies and interacting very little with the market as a place where bodies come to exchange.  Thus, we were left with a dichotomous high stakes/low stakes question of “What is not the farmer’s market?”

 

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The Farmer's Market

Presented by Timothy, Melissa, and iea 

 

Audio
Audio+pictures
Naming rounds

Sensory Overload. Entering into the structure, one is accosted by sounds, sights and smells. One finds tightly compact spaces layered with items displayed. The structure itself provides various scenarios for the body to interact in, while the structure as Farmer’s Market places the body into three distinct categories: Vendor, Consumer Musician, as documented by a pseudo-fourth category: the observers (in other words, us).

Observing provided quite a bit of questions, some of which are on the handout. We’d like to focus on the inquiry of “How does the time mechanism set a pace/direct the flow and interaction of bodies? How does time affect power between the bodies and within the structure?”

Vendors can only sell within the set hours of ten and three and the space marked for appropriate action as a vendor is designated by a bell: one ring in the morning to signify the beginning of the day and one in the afternoon to indicate the close of the day.  If anyone wishes to deviate from the bell, they must approach the staff in the office and request special permission.  

Before the bell, bodies interact in a fast pace manner using machinery, while as time approaches the bell, the bodies settle in for a more repetitive role.  Between the bell, the interaction of bodies exercise in parabolic energy. Beginning with the arrival of the vendors the energy begins to build and then subside in anticipation of the bell. Once the bell sounds, energy rises with the arrival of the consumer. As the consumer population increases so does the tension between the three classifications of bodies. The musicians add to the pace of time by designating the peek hours with their function as entertainment. The energy reaches its peak and then disintegrates on the approach of the bell. The musicians leave, the consumers begin to dwindle, and the bell rings, releasing tension. The interaction then turns to bodies and machines once again. Thus,, time is a technique, which provides the space for these functions to exist.

We analyzed the dynamics of the exchange in the farmer’s market through both a triad and a binary conception and the context in which time interacts in these theories.

As a triad, we have, as already discussed, the consumer, the vendor and the musician. The vendor causes the space to function as the farmer’s market; the musician provides the presence of the farmer’s market and lastly, the consumer uses the space. All three categories support each other and provide an interchanging flow of power.

Similarly, in a binary manner, as Foucault tends to explore, we found dichotomous tension. For example, in the physical structure versus bodily structure, it is difficult to segment the two for they relate to each other, as the setup of the place and the interaction contained within the place. In the interior and exterior shows how the exterior of the building sets boundaries for the place, while the interior explodes nearly limitlessly (various sights, smells and sounds). If we reterm objectivity and subjectivity, objectivity implies following the rules within the structure, while subjectivity exerts as a manner in which to bend the rules while still existing within the structure.  In subjectivity, then, we enter into another dichotomy of high stakes/low stakes.  We, as observers, toyed with the idea of high stakes/low stakes, which the tension between the two is made possible in part by Judith Butler’s term of performativity, where a power structure only exerts its power by a constant reiteration of its function and it is in this repetitive notion that the power structure becomes vulnerable.  If the farmer’s market is constantly a place where bodies go to exchange, then Tim, Melissa and I, as observers, broke this primary rule of exchange in a low stakes manner.  The constant rule of the farmer’s market provided us with the space for observation in more of a low stakes manner because we were able to blend with the other bodies, while remaining apart from the bodies and interacting very little with the market as a place where bodies come to exchange.  Thus, we were left with a dichotomous high stakes/low stakes question of “What is not the farmer’s market?”

 

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ARCHIVE - The obituary of the shinny red car http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/the-obituary-of-the-shinny-red-car 2007-10-26T18:23:10-07:00 2007-10-26T18:23:10-07:00 Tim I had a dream I got into a car wreck with my father's old car. Here is the obituary for the car.

Delivered in 1954, it arrived gleaming and bright. Purchased as a present for my grandmother by my grandfather, it was classy. As the years past, various hands held that large steering wheel, long before the days of power steering, it was a beast. I remember as a boy, my cousin and I, taking it for a spin. After my grandfather past away, it stayed put in the garage at my grandmothers until my father decided, it needed an overhaul. A month later, it emerged, just as new. A new coat of paint, matched to the original shade of fire engine red, and some modifications to the engine and frame it was ready. I remember the day I first sat in front of the steering wheel. The dashboard, an assortment of gauges and knobs, no modern car contained. Yet now, we stand here, at the final resting spot of this gorgeous piece of machinery. It's body smashed and faded, it's engine purr, no longer audible. It will truly be missed.  ]]>
I had a dream I got into a car wreck with my father's old car. Here is the obituary for the car.

Delivered in 1954, it arrived gleaming and bright. Purchased as a present for my grandmother by my grandfather, it was classy. As the years past, various hands held that large steering wheel, long before the days of power steering, it was a beast. I remember as a boy, my cousin and I, taking it for a spin. After my grandfather past away, it stayed put in the garage at my grandmothers until my father decided, it needed an overhaul. A month later, it emerged, just as new. A new coat of paint, matched to the original shade of fire engine red, and some modifications to the engine and frame it was ready. I remember the day I first sat in front of the steering wheel. The dashboard, an assortment of gauges and knobs, no modern car contained. Yet now, we stand here, at the final resting spot of this gorgeous piece of machinery. It's body smashed and faded, it's engine purr, no longer audible. It will truly be missed.  ]]>
ARCHIVE - Experimental Critical Writing http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/experimental-critical-writing 2007-10-26T17:51:38-07:00 2007-10-26T17:51:38-07:00 Tim So, I had the film, Sin City, on the brain when I wrote this:

     He ran. Frightened for his life. He'd never understood the reason for them coming after him.

    "Stop you!" he heard them shout, but he couldn't stop. Oxygen to the brain and he kept running. He kept thinking back to what started this all: the intrusion. 

    But this dread was something different. It was a fear of intrusion into himself rather than an expansion of the world's gaze.

    It was after that first intrusion that he started running. His mind ached for it, very much the way someone with terminal lung cancer ached for a cigarette. He craved the feeling, the air, the movement, of running.

    Turn over please...Mmmm, Very pronounced gluteus maximus. 

    There it was again. The shock. The street signs blurred. The dirt around him kicked up. He heard the sounds of gunfire. The vision of the place, still etched in his mind: red doors. White numbers. With a flash of light he saw it.

    The way the plaster had been teased up into little fronds on the wall, like miniature stalactites.

    It was an astonishing sight for someone like Margoulies, who understood the anatomy of the human body both from within and without. 

      It began to rain now, the water hitting the ground like drumsticks on a snare drum. They filed quietly past, their mission accomplished.

 

 

 

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So, I had the film, Sin City, on the brain when I wrote this:

     He ran. Frightened for his life. He'd never understood the reason for them coming after him.

    "Stop you!" he heard them shout, but he couldn't stop. Oxygen to the brain and he kept running. He kept thinking back to what started this all: the intrusion. 

    But this dread was something different. It was a fear of intrusion into himself rather than an expansion of the world's gaze.

    It was after that first intrusion that he started running. His mind ached for it, very much the way someone with terminal lung cancer ached for a cigarette. He craved the feeling, the air, the movement, of running.

    Turn over please...Mmmm, Very pronounced gluteus maximus. 

    There it was again. The shock. The street signs blurred. The dirt around him kicked up. He heard the sounds of gunfire. The vision of the place, still etched in his mind: red doors. White numbers. With a flash of light he saw it.

    The way the plaster had been teased up into little fronds on the wall, like miniature stalactites.

    It was an astonishing sight for someone like Margoulies, who understood the anatomy of the human body both from within and without. 

      It began to rain now, the water hitting the ground like drumsticks on a snare drum. They filed quietly past, their mission accomplished.

 

 

 

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ARCHIVE - Scott Turner Schofield in class writing http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/scott-turner-schofield-in-class-writing 2007-10-26T17:17:16-07:00 2007-10-26T17:17:16-07:00 Tim Performed as a monologue.

 

Character: Boy, age 10

"Have you ever felt your life fly before you? A boy in shorts and a faded t-shirt climbs an apple tree and wonders why we're here or who we really are. Why does he feel like he's flying high above the earth when hes firmly rooted to the ground and taking the dog for a walk? It's like that scene in that movie. Where the camera pans out like it's rooted in outer space. You see the ground sink beneath you as your vision gets higher and higher as if you're flying towards the sky, towards space, towards nowhere. We see the earth, the milky way and suddenly, the scene changes to show a creature holding a marble, thats the universe as humans know it. The creature drops the marble in the bag and then bam! The films over. I feel like that sometimes. It's kinda weird."

 

 

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Performed as a monologue.

 

Character: Boy, age 10

"Have you ever felt your life fly before you? A boy in shorts and a faded t-shirt climbs an apple tree and wonders why we're here or who we really are. Why does he feel like he's flying high above the earth when hes firmly rooted to the ground and taking the dog for a walk? It's like that scene in that movie. Where the camera pans out like it's rooted in outer space. You see the ground sink beneath you as your vision gets higher and higher as if you're flying towards the sky, towards space, towards nowhere. We see the earth, the milky way and suddenly, the scene changes to show a creature holding a marble, thats the universe as humans know it. The creature drops the marble in the bag and then bam! The films over. I feel like that sometimes. It's kinda weird."

 

 

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ARCHIVE - The Form http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/the-form 2007-10-26T16:30:50-07:00 2007-10-26T16:30:50-07:00 Tim
Okay, ill give you a name. John Doe.

Telephone number? Why do you want them to answer more questions?  

Hm. If I say what sex I am, then this information will be a statistic.

So why ask both the age and year? Can't you do math?!

Shouldn't question #5 go together with #6.

Marriage eh? Weird. What about partnership?

How do i answer this question if I attended private and public schools?!

Where did I live five years ago? What a question.

No. No.

I work in an interesting industry. Can you guess which one? I bet not.

No, I won't tell you how much money I make a year, you might try and tax me more.

Never served in the military, never will. Pray there's no draft. I'd get mad.

No, there's no telephone in the house, and if there was, would I answer your phone call.

So If my son lives in a box truck in the backyard. Does this count as a vehicle if it's missing one wheel?

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Okay, ill give you a name. John Doe.

Telephone number? Why do you want them to answer more questions?  

Hm. If I say what sex I am, then this information will be a statistic.

So why ask both the age and year? Can't you do math?!

Shouldn't question #5 go together with #6.

Marriage eh? Weird. What about partnership?

How do i answer this question if I attended private and public schools?!

Where did I live five years ago? What a question.

No. No.

I work in an interesting industry. Can you guess which one? I bet not.

No, I won't tell you how much money I make a year, you might try and tax me more.

Never served in the military, never will. Pray there's no draft. I'd get mad.

No, there's no telephone in the house, and if there was, would I answer your phone call.

So If my son lives in a box truck in the backyard. Does this count as a vehicle if it's missing one wheel?

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ARCHIVE - Personal Ad for Winter Quarter Project - photography! http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/personal-ad-for-winter-quarter-project-photography 2007-10-26T13:46:21-07:00 2007-10-26T13:46:21-07:00 Tim I am a photographer looking to do some sort of photography series for my winter project. I haven't narrowed down the content aspect of my project,  although it'll be in the form of portraits and images speaking about the human body in relation to culture. How does fashion play into what our identities as individuals and of a culture and society? I'm still hesitant about this concept. Considering a group project if folks are interested. The ability to provide honest, critical, and technical feedback about work is a must. Whether you're doing film or digital doesn't matter to me. I have experience in both, and could provide a commercial insight to people interested in fine art. I'm also interested in the concept of images and their effective use in advertising. How do images play a roll in how we see ourselves. These are questions that I'm trying to figure out in order to narrow the concept of my project down.

 I'm looking for folks, who are creative, organized, but can also be spontaneous.    If you're interested, let me know!

 

 

 

 


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I am a photographer looking to do some sort of photography series for my winter project. I haven't narrowed down the content aspect of my project,  although it'll be in the form of portraits and images speaking about the human body in relation to culture. How does fashion play into what our identities as individuals and of a culture and society? I'm still hesitant about this concept. Considering a group project if folks are interested. The ability to provide honest, critical, and technical feedback about work is a must. Whether you're doing film or digital doesn't matter to me. I have experience in both, and could provide a commercial insight to people interested in fine art. I'm also interested in the concept of images and their effective use in advertising. How do images play a roll in how we see ourselves. These are questions that I'm trying to figure out in order to narrow the concept of my project down.

 I'm looking for folks, who are creative, organized, but can also be spontaneous.    If you're interested, let me know!

 

 

 

 


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ARCHIVE - Concept Rhyming paper http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/concept-rhyming-paper-0 2007-10-12T18:39:06-07:00 2007-10-12T18:39:06-07:00 Tim Fashioning the Body
Fall 07/08
Julia Zay

Power and Foucault


What is power? Who is Michel Foucault? How do power and Foucault connect? In Foucault’s The History of Sexuality: An Introduction Vol. 1, he was fascinated in the “forms of power, the channels it takes and the discourses it permeates in order to reach the most tenuous and individual modes of behavior,” (Foucault, 11). Power was everywhere, especially in the evolution of sexuality, as it is known present day. Yet, power has multiples definitions. It can be defined as a set standard, a ruling; we either have it or we don’t. For Foucault, however, it was everywhere, woven within sexuality and society, and life. To us however, someone in authority, creating a hierarchy, holds power. Foucault disagreed with this statement.
“Power operated as a mechanism of attraction; it drew out those peculiarities over which it kept watch. Pleasure spread to the power that harried it; power anchored the pleasure it uncovered,” (Foucault, 45). By using words such as pleasure, Foucault was able to weave the concept of power into different meanings. It was something that was found within our minds, our bodies, and us. We can use power to further investigate the concepts within sexuality. “It did not set boundaries for sexuality; it extended the various forms of sexuality pursuing them to lines of indifference,” (Foucault, 47). It was this energy that existed everywhere. To everyone else, power was authority, the set way. Nevertheless grounded in Foucault’s theories was the concept that power could be many things.
Religion, and the confession was a concept of power. To confess was to transfer power. “Confession frees, but power reduces one to silence; truth does not belong to the order of power but shares an original affinity with freedom,” (Foucalt, 60). Confession, A shift of power from one to another, was key in the concept of power. Was religion a means of confining power? To express power was to express desire. By confessing ones sins, and particularly the ones concerning sexual deviances, power was easily acquired. Yet, power on both the behalf of the confessor and the confessed. This gave much insight into what we could learn from society, and from our own bodies. By confessing, we sought we relieve the body of sin. Yet, people weren’t so open about it. “Perhaps the point to consider is not the level of indulgence or the quantity of repression but the form of power that was exercised,” (Foucault, 41). What had we learned from being repressed? Were we? Foucault argues we weren’t. ]]>
Fashioning the Body
Fall 07/08
Julia Zay

Power and Foucault


What is power? Who is Michel Foucault? How do power and Foucault connect? In Foucault’s The History of Sexuality: An Introduction Vol. 1, he was fascinated in the “forms of power, the channels it takes and the discourses it permeates in order to reach the most tenuous and individual modes of behavior,” (Foucault, 11). Power was everywhere, especially in the evolution of sexuality, as it is known present day. Yet, power has multiples definitions. It can be defined as a set standard, a ruling; we either have it or we don’t. For Foucault, however, it was everywhere, woven within sexuality and society, and life. To us however, someone in authority, creating a hierarchy, holds power. Foucault disagreed with this statement.
“Power operated as a mechanism of attraction; it drew out those peculiarities over which it kept watch. Pleasure spread to the power that harried it; power anchored the pleasure it uncovered,” (Foucault, 45). By using words such as pleasure, Foucault was able to weave the concept of power into different meanings. It was something that was found within our minds, our bodies, and us. We can use power to further investigate the concepts within sexuality. “It did not set boundaries for sexuality; it extended the various forms of sexuality pursuing them to lines of indifference,” (Foucault, 47). It was this energy that existed everywhere. To everyone else, power was authority, the set way. Nevertheless grounded in Foucault’s theories was the concept that power could be many things.
Religion, and the confession was a concept of power. To confess was to transfer power. “Confession frees, but power reduces one to silence; truth does not belong to the order of power but shares an original affinity with freedom,” (Foucalt, 60). Confession, A shift of power from one to another, was key in the concept of power. Was religion a means of confining power? To express power was to express desire. By confessing ones sins, and particularly the ones concerning sexual deviances, power was easily acquired. Yet, power on both the behalf of the confessor and the confessed. This gave much insight into what we could learn from society, and from our own bodies. By confessing, we sought we relieve the body of sin. Yet, people weren’t so open about it. “Perhaps the point to consider is not the level of indulgence or the quantity of repression but the form of power that was exercised,” (Foucault, 41). What had we learned from being repressed? Were we? Foucault argues we weren’t.
What’s interesting to note is Foucault’s concept of power as a technology, a tool in which knowledge, or pleasure was gained. How have we progressed on this concept? Have we? Given’s present day and the concept of sexuality, I’d say we’ve progressed well. Technology is rapidly changing, as is the concept of power. We’ve seen it used in the confession, we’ve seen it used in the human body. We’ve seen it used in the mind. Where has power taken us as a society? Power is like knowledge, in that it’s influential. Do students have power? Or, are they in the process of gaining knowledge which gives them power? To Foucault, power is something that is intertwined within everything. Yet, with our modern definition of power as something that seems set in place. Can the two coexist? It seems that power, as we know it is strength. By knowing about our sexuality, we contain power. Yet Foucault appears to agree with this as well. Sexuality for Foucault is strength. It’s like power, found in so many aspects of life, but more specifically in us.
“How have we come to be a civilization so peculiar as to tell itself that, through an abuse of power, which has not ended, it has long, “sinned” against sex,” (Foucault, 9). Historically, as society revolutionized, more power was gained. Yet, if power was gained, it must have been transported from one individual to the next. Not simply by someone always in authority.
“Pleasure and power do not cancel or turn back against one another; they seek, overlap, and reinforce one another,” (Foucault, 48). If this is true, than what could pleasure be defined as? Something gratifying? Accomplishment? Success? Power is interwoven into numerous concepts and terms. Foucault persistently stresses this. By having the pleasure of knowing about the human body, how we functioned, we gained power. By seeking advice from a therapist, or a doctor, power is frequently changing hands. Foucault’s concept of power complicates our comprehension of it because we’re used to seeing it in terms of authority. In war, power is shown by the ability to fight. In politics, power is shown by the ability to lead.
Power surrounds us; it’s everywhere, from the interaction between a soldier and his general, to inside the church where a priest listens to the sins of a villager. It flows from one mouth to the next, or one mind to another. Power is inside our own body, as a means of life, of expression, or knowledge. We find it when we least expect it. So, how does Foucault’s definition of power differ from our own? Does it? It appears that while, for him it’s more of a concept that is always being redefined in numerous instances. To us, we see power as more of a solid object: visibly apparent, in the media, in politics, in life. We see power in a CEO, a president: in someone of authority. Yet we realize how easily, power can be transferred: within the knowledge between a student and a teacher, or a doctor and patient. Power can be in the human senses, it can be in the human mind, it can be anywhere and everywhere. “We need to take these mechanisms seriously, therefore, and reverse the direction of our analysis: rather than assuming a general acknowledged repression,” (Foucault, 73). By thinking of power as something that is not always repressed, it allows us to simply redefine it, or look at in another context.


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ARCHIVE - Bus stop observations http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/bus-stop-observations 2007-10-05T14:50:25-07:00 2007-10-05T14:50:25-07:00 Tim It sits. Patiently, waiting for beings to enter its domain. To sit, inside, and be transported from one destination to the next. This large, rectangular object. Groaning, as it waits. I sit inside a structure meant to house those waiting for transportation. To shelter from gloominess that envelopes us. Mounted on the clear walls are items that appear to give us information about the rectangular object, sitting just outside. Numbers indicate a schedule of sorts, and routes at which the vehicle stops. Few beings are around. One being studies the information and hesitates, before asking another being inside the vehicle, appearing to be in control of it. The being asking questions walks away from area in another direction. Soon another being approaches the shelter, hesitates, and waits inside as well. Scratches and dim paint are scattered across the glass windows, as if once slightly removed or covered. No smoking. Yet the ground is covered in the remains of items once lit, now forgotten. More beings pass by, choosing not to wait. ]]> It sits. Patiently, waiting for beings to enter its domain. To sit, inside, and be transported from one destination to the next. This large, rectangular object. Groaning, as it waits. I sit inside a structure meant to house those waiting for transportation. To shelter from gloominess that envelopes us. Mounted on the clear walls are items that appear to give us information about the rectangular object, sitting just outside. Numbers indicate a schedule of sorts, and routes at which the vehicle stops. Few beings are around. One being studies the information and hesitates, before asking another being inside the vehicle, appearing to be in control of it. The being asking questions walks away from area in another direction. Soon another being approaches the shelter, hesitates, and waits inside as well. Scratches and dim paint are scattered across the glass windows, as if once slightly removed or covered. No smoking. Yet the ground is covered in the remains of items once lit, now forgotten. More beings pass by, choosing not to wait. ]]>